Confession
by Borrowed Twenties
Summary: He has always been waiting for the opportune time to tell her how he truly feels, and when Cronus is finally defeated, he has a chance. But something stands in his way... Will he tell her before he is too late? JxT, very slight AxA
1. Chapter 1

Hello guys, this story is going to be primarily about Theresa and Jay. Whereas my other earlier fics on Theresa and Jay were angsty ones where they couldn't get together, this one is finally following up on Jay's feelings in the 3rd chapter of **To Be A Leader**. Yup. Okay. I've been kinda churning out stories quite fast, but this story might not be updated frequently from now on since my exams are next week. Just now I've just finished studying part of my History notes so I allowed myself a quick type on the computer keyboard, but soon that's going to stop, so be warned. But I promise I'll try my very best to continue the story, even if there's hardly any reviews. Hmm, but reviews would most definitely speed up the adding of chapters. Yup...

By the way, to understand this story, you have to go read **To Be a Leader** first or some other time to understand just why Jay can't tell her that... Ahem, that he loves her. Yeah, so go read it?

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Class of the Titans and I never will, sadly.

**Chapter 1**

The brown-haired leader sat quietly at the white table in the canteen, gazing into his bowl of noodles and stirring the noodles repeatedly, as though in a trance. His mind was on a certain girl who had long, wavy, orange hair...

Lately, it had been tougher for him to ignore her little flirting here and there, and his brain practically calling him to do something about it. It's been two years. Two long years. Two years may not seem exceptionally long, but to a tired-of-waiting Jay, it was much longer than one could bear. He was surprised at how long he had lasted, even. He yearned to tell her his feelings, that he actually loved her.

Now, everyday, he was living in trepidation, with the fear that she'd soon give up. Thankfully, she hadn't yet, and he was utterly grateful for that, but how long could she last? Sometimes he saw a look of depression haunt her face when he gave her a blank stare in response to her playfulness and charm, as though he was oblivious to everything she was doing. It wasn't easy for her, he could guess. Plus, everyone in the school knew about this - about them - and Theresa was kind-of being shamed in front of the entire school. Not being able to "gain" his attention, yet was still trying desperately - that probably came across as something like a "desperate housewife" to others who didn't know the half of her.

He wasn't blind; he had heard the ridicules, the rumours spreading around the school like wildfire, and they were all about Theresa. And well, they weren't nice rumours either. Jay closed his eyes and sighed, clenching his fists. Did they really have to put her through that kind of torture? It wasn't fair to her. Not at all. And it was all _his_ fault, too, but what could he do? Too many reasons... He couldn't tell her. Not now.

He gazed at his food miserably, his appetite gone at the reminder of his love. When would this all end? When would _Cronus_ end? What if he never did? How long would Theresa hold on? Many questions spun through his mind. So many questions, yet so little answers. He clenched his teeth and sighed again, not knowing what to do. Fate wasn't in his hands - he couldn't tweak his destiny, his future, but right now, he sure wished, more than ever, that he could.

"Hey Jay!" a familiar, cheerful voice said behind him, snapping him out of his reverie.

Jay turned around, a slight frown on his face, but it was immediately replaced by a warm smile when he saw who it was.

"Theresa."

"Can I join you?" she asked, a wide grin on her face.

"Yeah, sure," Jay shrugged and gestured to the empty seat beside him with a nod, trying to seem nonchalent.

Seeing her pretty, relaxed face and the way her long hair swirled around as she bent to eat was almost hypnotising. He was just sailing into a world of his own where a certain someone dominated when he somehow noticed her staring at him weirdly. Jay blinked at her, then reddened as he realised that he wasn't exactly in a very... normal position.

Oh _great_, she had just caught him ogling at her again. And he didn't even notice. What was wrong with him?

Theresa blinked back at him. "What, do I have something on my face or what?" she questioned with a tinge of worry to her voice, her hand automatically flying to her cheek in search of, perhaps, an imaginary piece of food.

"No, no," Jay replied quickly, shaking his head. Then he grinned and said teasingly, "But oh, you sure looked like Neil back there."

"What?!" Theresa gaped at him, then pouted. "No way! I'm _so_ not that egoistical, narcisstic freak!"

Jay laughed, waving his hand lightly. "Okay, okay, don't need to criticise the poor guy. I was just kidding."

She shot him a pointed look then went back to eating her food.

Whew. What a close call. He had almost been sure she would ask him why he had been staring at her like that. Hopefully, she wouldn't remember something like that. HOPEFULLY. That was a lucky break, really - he had distracted her from her query. Whew whew whew. Jay squeezed his eyes shut, recalling the times he had just sat there and ogled at her. Once, it involved even drool... Okay, he wasn't going to go into details there, that was way too embarassing. He had better watch his step from now on. He might have escaped, but he wouldn't be able to escape forever. He was going to have to be on his guard.

With that vow firmly imprinted on his mind, he subconsciously nodded and went back to eating his already-cold noodles.

--

Walking down the hallways of New Olympia High, he was suddenly filled with acute awareness of something going on. Something bad.

Theresa, who was walking beside him, had her eyes on someone. Someone. As in, a guy. A guy!

The minute Jay had seen that guy, he could tell something bad was going to happen. Dread washed over him as he noticed the guy - he was tall, dark and unfortunately, handsome. He had an incredibly charming smile, and as he walked, Jay could see the girls all around him swooning and going weak in the knees. And, Theresa was no exception either.

The guy was a total stranger - Jay had never seen him before, definitely. He was probably the new kid around, the transfer student. Normally, Jay was pretty friendly to new students, but this was different. How could he be friendly to someone who was...?! Okay, he wasn't going to fill in the blank back there. He gave the guy his most withering glare and hoped to goodness that Theresa was no longer staring. But apparently, hoping wasn't good enough, because it sure wasn't working.

Worse still, he heard a dreamy "Hi..." sounding from her. And it obviously wasn't directed at _him_.

Jay frowned crossly. What was this guy doing, stealing his girl? Well, okay, technically Theresa wasn't his girl, but she was going to be. When Cronus was stopped, that is. Yeah. So she _was_ his girl! How dare he?! Jay tried to quell the raging fire of anger and perhaps, jealousy, that was threatening to overwhelm him, but was unable to do so.

But how could he tell that low-down guy that she was his? There was no point going all territorial over Theresa only to have her point out that they weren't exactly dating. And he would be giving himself away, big-time. With his millionth sigh of the day, he could only watch in horror as the guy and his beloved engaged in a conversation. It might seem like a typical one, but he wasn't fooled. He was probably putting the moves on her, and he could only wait and see what was going to happen...

And he felt like screaming suddenly. He felt like screaming, "NOOOOO!"

--

Sorry, I'm so sorry, it so totally sucks. sighs I'll try to improve the next chapter, am so sorry, I was rushing through it, I'm being chased to do my homework...! Oh yes, the sypnosis of the story says that Cronus is defeated and Jay is going to try to admit those feelings that he has been holding back, right? Yep, I just haven't gotten to that part yet. So just you wait and see!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jay lay, stretched comfortably on his bed, head propped up by soft, fluffy pillows. He sighed, closing his Biology textbook in frustration. All those baffling terms were beyond him. What, the blood from the inferior vena cava of the heart flowed through the triscupid valve into the right atrium? What lumen? What aterioles? Argh! Learning all those explanations really drove him mad. Biology had never been his pet subject, and he mostly favoured Physics. He groaned, setting down his textbook and gazing at the ceiling.

Of course, having Theresa constantly invade his thoughts didn't help matters, either.

Alright, so he was bad at Biology, but not _that_ bad at Biology. It was just her. She was seriously distracting him. Well, not exactly. It was something else that worried him, and for once it had nothing to do with Cronus. It was that guy. That stranger, the new student in New Olympia High. He had definitely attracted Theresa's attention. Made her stutter, swoon, blush. Jay clenched his fist and felt annoyance - and jealousy? - coursing through his veins suddenly just at the thought of it.

And worse still, prom was just a week away. In fact, it was 5 days away.

And... And... What if that guy chose to whisk her away from him by asking her to the prom? Then she would be gone, just like that. He envisioned her in a flowing gown that accentuated her luscious curves and hugged her slender body, dancing in the arms of the resident Prince Charming. There would be charming smiles, little flirting and perhaps even kissing - he wouldn't put it past that innocent-looking but probably devious guy.

NOOOOOO...

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Jay brushed his frustration aside, calling, "Come in!"

The door opened and a certain blonde stuck his head inside, looking anxious.

"Neil? What is it?" Jay questioned quickly, immediately going on defense mode. Was it Cronus? Had something happened to the team? After all, it wasn't every day that Neil showed up at his door. Plus the fact that he had that antsy look on his face... Something was definitely wrong here. _Great, has something happened?_ Jay thought, worry rushing through his veins. Oh no. If someone had been injured... What if Cronus had the team in his hands...? Was only Neil left? He was such a lousy leader! Here he was thinking about Theresa when the whole team was in danger!

He glanced around frantically, looking for his walkie-talkie thingy device that Odie had given each one of them. Did he miss any calls unknowingly? Had he been too distracted that he didn't hear the beep of the little hand-held device? Oh no, oh no, oh no!

"Jay! Jay!" Neil cried out, bringing Jay's thoughts back to Neil, who looked as though someone had ruffled his feathers.

"Yes? Yes?! What is it, Neil? Tell me!" Urgency rang in his voice.

"I've lost my mirror!" Neil wailed. "That thing cost a bomb, you know! Did you see it?!"

Jay gaped at him, too shocked to register what he just said. "What did you just say?"

"I said, I've lost my mirror!" Neil whined irratably, seeming to be annoyed that Jay hadn't exactly placed his expensive mirror as of utmost importance.

Jay glared at him. Great. He had just gotten all worked up for nothing.

Wow, what was wrong with him? This was Neil, after all. As in, Neil, the narcisstic, egoistical, self-righteous model. Obviously it would have been something minor, like a lost comb or a gone-with-the-wind T-shirt (the one he wore, after all, was also branded, expensive and made of pure silk).

Don't get him wrong. He does treat Neil as a friend, only... An _irritating_ friend.

"No, no, no, I haven't seen your mirror!" Jay snapped irrately, crossing his arms. Normally he wouldn't exactly treat Neil like that; usually he was the patient, caring leader who "mothered" after everyone and listened to everyone's problems with "rapt" attention, but this time, it was different. This leader now had an additional problem to solve besides the trouble Cronus brought. He couldn't be expected to be star-studded all the time, could he?

"But...!" Neil protested, looking around Jay's room wildly.

Jay shook his head. "Neil, please, _out_."

"Aww man, Jay, you're so hard-hearted," Neil said, shaking his head and pouting at Jay as he left, slamming the door behind him.

_That guy has a serious attitude problem,_ was the first thing that came to Jay's mind as he rolled his eyes, falling back onto the plushy pillows and sighing.

A knock sounded on the door once again. Jay's head snapped up and he growled. "Neil, for the last time, I don't have your mirror!"

The door cracked open and a confused Theresa peeked in, looking a bit scared from Jay's sudden fierceness.

"Oops. Wrong person." Jay squeezed his eyes shut. _Wow, what a wonderful day._

Theresa blinked at him, looking like her sweet, innocent self. Jay could almost feel his cheeks colouring - _just_ by thinking of her. What a strong hold that girl had on him.

She glanced hesitantly at him, seeing the textbook lying face-down on his bed. "Jay, are you busy...? I... I need to ask you something."

Jay smiled and gestured to the bed. "Uh... Yeah, I am. What is it?"

Theresa came over and sat on his bed, bouncing lightly and her face a light shade of red. "Well... Well... Um... Derek asked me out for the prom, I don't know whether I should go. Do... Do you think I should?"

Jay stared at her, his mind whirling. "What? What Derek? Who's Derek?"

Theresa cleared her throat, blushing. "He's... He's the new guy at school. You know that guy who is tall, dark and..." She broke off for a second, her face taking on a darker hue of red, "handsome?"

Jay's jaw dropped to the floor. So he had been right! That evil, scheming, conniving Derek...! He had known all along that he was going to try something like that! Leaders had sharp and accurate instincts, all the time. Never mind that he knew nothing about that guy. He should have checked whether she was taken or not, at least! He was sure about the whole school would tell him she was not an option. She was taken. Taken by someone named Jay. Well, okay, so it might seem like one-sided love - on Theresa's part, that is - but still...!

"Jay... Jay? Hello? You there?" Theresa asked, waving her hand in front of his face in attempt to snap him out of his reverie, effectively bringing him down to Earth.

"Uh... Why did you ask something like that? Why didn't you ask Atlanta instead, or someone else?" Jay stammered. What an awkward question to ask a guy.

Theresa fiddled nervously with a strand of her long, wavy hair and mumbled, "Well... Atlanta wasn't around, she was off skateboarding with Archie, and you're about the second person I trust the most, so I thought... I thought I'd ask you..."

Jay bit his lip in uncertainty as he saw her expectant gaze. What in the world was he going to tell her? Tell her no, she couldn't go to the prom because some brown-haired guy was absolutely _dying_ to go with her, and that person was none other than Jay himself?

Jay sighed. He knew he didn't know anything about that Derek guy. For all he knew, Derek might be some kind-hearted guy who would treat Theresa well. After all, Theresa had been waiting ages for Jay, but to no avail. She had been so patient and she probably was hurt that he hadn't made any move - not one at all. He hated to admit it, but... But she deserved better. She deserved a better-looking guy, one with a good heart, one much better than him. Anyway, he didn't deserve her. He wasn't half as good as her, and to top it off, he was a terrible leader whom had no skills at all - he didn't wield a sword to much effect and he was usually knocked down time and time again. Yes, he didn't deserve her.

It would be selfish of him to withhold from her the happiness he knew she had been waiting for. Maybe... Maybe he should just give her up. For her sake. _If you love me, you'll let me go,_ rang the famous words from some TV show. Jay's shoulders drooped, eyes lowered, debating with himself if he should really let go and let her have her happiness. She was much more important than he, he realised. And so...

"You should go with him," Jay said finally, gazing up at her beautiful face and faking a smile, trying to hold back the little tear that was forming in his eye quietly, waiting to slide out of his eye and down his cheek if he wasn't careful. He was such a sentimental freak - again, another boo-boo about himself - the failed leader.

He saw her expression change. Was it reluctance and sorrow he saw on her face? Whatever it was, it was quickly replaced by a sad smile and a nod. "Oh... Okay... I'll... I'll let him know tomorrow, Jay. Thanks for your piece of advice."

Saying that, Theresa stood up and left, leaving the door a little open.

Jay felt as though his heart had been ripped out. No more Theresa to flirt with him, no more Theresa to blush about, no more Theresa to create fantasies about. But he knew it had been the right thing to do.

But why did it feel so wrong?

--

Sorry that the fic is moving rather slowly so far, but I don't have much time, I'm taking away my precious mugging time to do some typing here. Hahas. And oh yeah, Theresa telling Jay is justified in my view because she trusts Jay. Yeah so I know it's kinda weird that a girl go ask her loved one whether she should go out with another guy, but the point of it is to show that she trusts him tons. Yep sorry if it's kinda OOC.

And Cronus hasn't appeared yet, don't worry, he will soon. Like, in probably two more chapters' time? Hopefully I'll get them out soon; I've had inspirations for the next chapter from my Biology class about pathogens and infections. By the way, those random info - I learnt them from Biology class, it'll be tested for me.

And the part where Neil appears, it's quite random too. It's because I thought 1) I should include some of the other characters too and 2) Neil is one of my favourite characters in terms of his comedic ways. And yes. Okay, hope you enjoyed it, please review?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"...And he told me to go ahead with the date with Derek," Theresa sighed, looking downcast. "I guess he really doesn't like me."

She and Atlanta were talking about Jay and heading towards their homeroom class, which was pretty far away from the canteen. Crossing the rough pavement, Theresa closed her eyes, letting the feeling of disappointment wash over her for the millionth time.

Atlanta frowned, glancing at her best friend's depressed look. "Oh come on, Theresa. I'm sure he does like you. Anyone can tell that, even the clueless Odie."

"But he never says anything about it!" Theresa complained, putting her hands on her hips. "How am I supposed to know if he does or not?"

"Does what?" a curious voice said from behind her, making both Theresa and Atlanta jump.

"Oh, hi Jay." Theresa grinned nervously, giving him a forced smile. "Nothing. We - We were just talking about... Erms... Our IT teacher."

Jay looked at her suspiciously. His leader instinct was telling him that she was lying. She couldn't have been talking about their IT teacher - whoever that was, anyway. For one, she sounded pretty fake, and he knew her well - she seldom talked about the teachers during school hours because she had been caught gossiping about their History teacher once and she had vowed never to do it again. Plus, that faked grin she was giving him - that told him a lot.

Had they been talking about him?

Jay shrugged, deciding to let it go. No point chasing after her and getting her to tell him what was it they had been talking about, anyway. They would probably never tell him even if he tried all means to weasel it out of them. He could only hope they had been discussing some good stuff about him.

He was about to say something when he heard Theresa squeal, "Oh, there's Derek! I'll go tell him now!"

Jay winced inwardly. How was it fate seemed to be bringing continuous torture to him over and over again? Now, not only would he have the "satisfaction" of seeing her gone for good, he would also get to witness her going off to another man.

He gazed wistfully as he watched Theresa run after Derek, calling his name. However, Derek didn't seem to hear her; after all, he was rather far away. She ran faster and faster, and he suddenly saw her figure collapse, almost...

Atlanta gasped, turning to Jay. "Did you see that? I think Theresa fell!"

But when she turned to look for him, he was already gone.

The leader was running. Running to see if she was okay.

Upon reaching her, he immediately bent down and asked with concern, "Theresa! Hey, are you alright?"

The orange-haired girl looked up into his face, a twisted expression on her face. "I... I don't know."

Jay looked down and saw her knees were badly skinned; blood was starting to flow out of her wounds, which looked pretty bad. Her hands weren't so well-off, either - she had probably scratched them when she was breaking her fall. The pavement was rough, so it was no wonder her fall caused this. He watched as she looked down at her knees and the colour practically drained from her face, her lips turning an ashen white.

"How did you fall?" Jay tried to help her up. "I need to get you to the General Office, quick. They'll clean up your wounds, don't worry; I'll help you there..."

Just then, Atlanta caught up with Jay, hastily stopping beside Theresa and taking her other arm firmly. "Is she okay?"

"I think she's okay, only she's scratched her knees," Jay replied.

"I... I fell down. I tripped over something and I fell..." Theresa mumbled.

As they walked a few steps forward, Theresa halted suddenly, a look of worry on her face. She looked light-headed and unstable. "Jay... Jay, I feel so dizzy, I can't walk straight..."

Atlanta looked at Jay, as though waiting for the leader to give some command. "Should we let her rest for a while?"

Jay thought for a while, then shook his head. "Never mind. I'll... I'll carry her."

Atlanta gaped as she watched Jay bent down, put one of his arms around Theresa's legs and one on her back and hoisted her up, carrying her in a knight-carry-damsel-in-distress style. _That was... So sweet of Jay!_ She thought, smiling to herself. She was 100 per cent sure their leader had definitely fallen for her best friend.

Jay noticed the stares he was getting and raised an eyebrow at Atlanta. "What?"

"Oh, nothing!" Atlanta answered, trying rather unsuccessfully to hide her smile.

Jay gave her a weird look, then the both of them proceeded to the General Office to get Theresa's wounds cleaned.

--

"She had a shock just now when she saw blood, probably," the teacher said, gazing keenly at the orange-haired beauty.

"Well, of course," Atlanta said, rolling her eyes, "who wouldn't?"

Jay pursed his lips, then said, "No, I think what she meant was she went into a shock. When she saw the blood, she got a shock and the blood drained from her brain and rushed into her internal organs. Her head therefore had a lack of blood circulating and thus less oxygen, so..."

"So, she felt light-headed and dizzy and she couldn't walk properly," the lady finished, giving Atlanta a pointed look, causing the redhead to blush slightly.

Atlanta turned to Jay with a slight frown on her face. "I thought you said your Bio sucks?"

Jay shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Well, yeah, those were the layman terms."

Atlanta gave him a look then turned back to Theresa, who was lying on one of the Sick Bay beds. Her head and legs were being propped up and she was resting peacefully.

"So, why is she lying down in such a weird position?" she asked, curious.

"That's so the blood from her legs flow back into her brain so she won't feel dizzy." Jay walked over to Theresa, sitting down on the bed and gazing at her gauze-covered knees and bandaged hands. He sighed.

The teacher looked at the teenagers for a while, then asked sharply, "Don't you have class attend?"

Atlanta's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no! I so totally forget there's Geography now! Shoot!"

The teacher shook her head disapprovingly, then she said, " Well, one of you can stay here, the other must go back to class."

Without even looking up, Jay spoke. "Atlanta, you go, I'll stay here."

Knowing it would be pointless to argue, Atlanta glared at him, then walked out of the General Office grudgingly without answering.

Just as the redhead had left, Theresa began to stir, her eyes fluttering open. She frowned at Jay and rubbed her forehead. "Gosh, what happened?"

And so, Jay had to explain all the terms again. "Hmm, I wonder why you went into shock. I thought you've seen... Erm, a lot of blood already?"

Theresa laughed shakily. "Well, not really... The last time I fell down and skinned my knees was when I was in 1st grade, really..."

Jay shrugged and was about to comment when Theresa exclaimed suddenly.

"Oh no! I forgot to tell Derek!"

Jay crossed his arms and looked at her pointedly. "You can tell him another day. Your safety is more important."

Theresa sighed, flopping back onto the white pillows, resigned.

Jay couldn't help but grin despite her injury. She hadn't told that Derek guy yet... She didn't belong to someone else yet! Okay, so that was pretty selfish of him, and he knew that sooner or later she was going to tell that Derek that she would go with him to the prom, but at least this meant one more day of her not being attached to someone else yet.

If only he could tell her now before it was too late...

--

Omigosh, I'm so sorry, this seems pretty detached and irrelevant. It's like, just stalling for time. And Atlanta seems pretty OOC, I don't know how to portray her character aptly. My apologies, I'll try to improve the next chapter.

By the way, all those weird random stuff about getting a shock and the process of getting a shock is real actually; it happened to me before, in fact, just last week! And I wrote about it the exact same way that it happened to me, that fateful fall. I also earned an explanation from the teacher, so I decided to include it down here.

Okay, so please read and review, thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

He gazed wordlessly at the mushy mixture that lay in a metal foil on the tabletop. Archie hovered uncertainly behind him, looking on.

Both of them donned a pink, girlish apron - probably from Athena's closet - and Jay was just teaching Archie how to cook so he wouldn't fail his Home Economics class. And what better to try out than to bake a cake? By the way, it had been Archie who had asked, not Jay who had offered. Well, then again, if Jay knew Archie was struggling in Home Econs, he would have offered his expertise. It was all in a day's work for a leader.

"...And you put this in the oven for 60 minutes and you'll get a chocolate cake," Jay explained thoroughly, looking up for some understanding in Archie's eyes. Archie nodded, looking a little wary, and he took the mixture from Jay and popped it into the oven carelessly. Jay looked on with a grimace and watched as Archie twiddled with the knobs on the oven.

Finally, Archie looked up. "Uh... Jay, how do I set the timing?"

Jay sighed, trying not to roll his eyes at Archie's lack of cooking skills. Setting the time first for Archie and hoping Archie was absorbing this bit of information on how to use an oven, Jay squinted at the cake. Hopefully, it would pull through - the cake, he meant. Then next the heat knob...

Jay was about to ask Archie if he got it when he heard a sweet, feminine voice ask, "Hey, what are you guys doing?"

Jay whirled around and effectively gazing up into the eyes of Theresa. Blushing slightly as he realised with acute awareness that their faces were only, what, an inch apart, he gave her a silly grin and said, "Uh, nothing, I'm just teaching Archie to cook."

Archie glared at Jay for revealing his not-so-secret secret and was about to retort when he noticed with a raised eyebrow that Jay's hand was still on the knob that controlled the heat of the oven. And his eyes widened a little as he watched a distracted Jay turn the knob to the right, and to the right, and to the right... He wasn't sure if that was the correct way to do it, and although it didn't look right, he trusted Jay, the master of cooking and one of the best Home Econs scholars ever to walk the planet. Hmm, but that strange, red glowing and the strong heat the oven was radiating did look strange...

Meanwhile, Jay was still dazedly talking to Theresa, and just then, as Theresa wobbled unsteadily towards them, she suddenly lurched and almost fell. Jay turned the knob to the right one last time - unknowingly, of course - and practically leapt towards Theresa in an effort to catch her. And he did, catching her beautifully, right into his arms she went. Archie gave them a pointed look, which was promptly ignored by the both of them. Theresa innocently blinked at him, causing Jay to redden slightly, and lost in his own pretty little world after asking how her injured leg was doing now, the oven started to make strange, popping noises... Or perhaps that was the mixture.

"Uh... Jay...? Jay!" Archie called, his eyes still on the cake, looking a little worried at the bubbling mixture which looked revolting, disgusting now. However, his leader was _still_ lost and _still_ holding Theresa in his arms.

The final call snapped Jay out of his reverie, though, and as he let go of Theresa and turned towards the oven a second too late, everyone in the entire brownstone dorm heard a giant 'Boom' and smoke filled the tiny kitchen.

Archie choked, waving his arm wildly in an attempt to get rid of the smoke that was curling around the oven. Jay wrenched his eyes shut, coughing, as did Theresa. Thankfully, Athena wasn't around, if not a shelling might have been in order.

Once the smoke cleared, Jay looked sheepishly at Theresa first, then at Archie, who had his arms crossed. He looked absolutely crossed (no pun intended).

"Gee, thanks Jay, that sure taught me a _lot_ on how to bake a cake," Archie said sarcastically, still giving Jay a look.

Jay winced inwardly for the thousandth time in the week, bemoaning his bad luck.

All three looked at the steaming oven, the disgusting, thick mixture and Archie and Theresa looked at Jay, who stepped back a little and asked rather anxiously, "You guys _are_ going to help me, right?"

The stares he got gave him the answer.

--

Jay yawned, tearing off that now dirty-looking apron hurriedly as he threw the towel into the sink. Ungrateful Archie - next time he would know better than to teach him, especially how to cook. He stared at the spick-and-span counter which seemingly sparkled with cleanliness and felt a little wave of achievement pass through him and he gazed somewhat proudly at being able to clean off everything, plus the ash-filled oven, in just an hour flat. Ah, the benefits of having done housework in his parents' house.

He was just thinking of going to possibly read a nice book on sailing or just take a nap - after all, all that cleaning and scrubbing had positively drained all his energy - when he heard his PMR go off. Literally groaning, he got up from the bar stool he had been sitting on and dug into his pocket in search of that elusive PMR that was buried right under his wallet, dorm keys and other random stuff. Finally getting it out, he flipped it open with a sigh.

Odie immediately came on the screen, looking rather worried. "We have a situation here. Cronus and his giants are holding a group of people hostage at the Town Park, and -"

"We'll be right there," Jay responded, already bounding up the spiralling staircase and into the upper floor where all the team members' rooms were on. Knocking on each of the doors and being greeted with different responses - snoring, Neil's shriek at being awakened, Theresa's "Yes?" - he listened at the same time to what Odie was going on about.

"I think it's a trap," Odie continued, crossing his arms. "He probably just wants to draw us out and destroy us, once and for all. I don't think we should -"

Jay shook his head. "People are in danger, Odie. We need to save them. Okay, meet us there in the Town Park as soon as you can, DON'T go in alone. Got it?"

Odie nodded, giving him a thumbs-up over the PMR. "You've got it, Jay." And with that, both parties flipped their PMRs shut and hurried on to do what was needed of them.

--

"What's the plan?" Archie couldn't help but ask as the team stood outside the park, awaiting Jay's instructions.

Jay hesitated, looking at Theresa uncertainly. He couldn't help but worry for her - the injury was right on her knees, making it painful to bend, especially since it was just a fresh wound from a day ago. This would greatly reduce her agility and speed as well as flexibility. Should he even let her go in there and let her be made an easy target by the giants?

Following his gaze, all of the team members' eyes came to rest on Theresa, who promptly challenged defensively, "What? Why is everyone looking at me?"

Herry frowned. "Your knee is injured, I think you shouldn't fight."

Jay nodded, looking chargrined to be the one to tell her she shouldn't. "Theresa, Herry's right. There's no telling what might happen if you go in there injured. Maybe you should stay out here, in the truck, and -"

"No!" Theresa frowned, crossing her arms. "I'm part of the team, I'm not backing out. I'm seriously fine, Jay, everyone. Come on, I want to fight along with you guys...!"

Neil rolled his eyes. "If the girl wants to do it, let her do it, Jay. We're wasting precious time here by just standing here like idiots. Time is ticking away, folks. I've got a spa appointment at two, I don't want to miss it." Seeing everyone's glares, he protested, "What?"

Jay sighed, running a hand through his short, brown hair. "Theresa, I can't let you go in there. You stay here, all right?"

"But -!" Theresa gaped as she watched the team run into the wide, metal gates of the Town Park. Pouting angrily, she leaned onto the Herry's truck, muttering, "Wow, that sure was nice of them."

--

Cronus narrowed his eyes as Egnon tied up the screaming people. Shaking his head, he looked around suspiciously. Wasn't that idiotic Jay and his little team of teenage "heroes" coming? What a simple trap this was, and yet he was sure that they would be drawn to it. No, he was certain - that Jay was too loyal and compassionate to let him get away with such a crime, however meagre it was.

He was right. A few minutes later, the heroes dashed across the park, earning wide-eyed stares from the hostages and the evil, arrogant smirk that tugged the edges of the God of Time's mouth. He was going to exact his revenge now - ah, how sweet that would be to finally lay a hand on those annoying kids, especially Jay. Ordering his giants to attack, he stood there and waited, sure that Jay would be coming for him.

"Atlanta, Archie, Herry, you guys distract the giants, Odie, Neil, you free the people, I'll get Cronus!" Jay yelled and seeing them nod at his command, he ran towards Cronus, pulling out his xiphos and letting the retractable blade come out of the sword. Cronus gave him a dark smile, and he, too, wielding his deadly scythes, stepped forward.

"My, my, Jay, I knew you'd come. You couldn't resist saving those innocent hostages, could you?" Cronus gave him an amused look as he saw Jay's wary expression turn to one of intense hatred. "What a simple little trap - and all of you had to stick your tiny little noses in it - Wait, one of you's missing. Theresa, where is she?"

Jay ignored him, carefully searching for Cronus' blind spots. Seeing Cronus' rather suspicious look at the absence of Theresa, Jay decided to seize this opportunity of Cronus' distraction to lunge at him, putting in all his energy into this attack, but Cronus dodged and swung a scythe at Jay's head, luckily missing by a few inches. Jay swerved, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him.

"Getting better, aren't you, Jay?" Cronus mocked, raising his scythes. "But too bad, it's not good enough - not good enough to go up against a god like me." A spell rose from his lips, a black magic incantation, and as he chanted, sinister black fire raged from his mighty hands.

And then he threw the flashes of energy at Jay.

Jay gaped, then started to run out of the way of the firey flames. Dodging it successfully the first time, Jay heaved a sigh of relief and was about to taunt Cronus when he realised he hadn't fully gotten rid of the fire. Both of the flames were... Following him.

Filled with dread, he darted out of the way once again, barely missing by centimetres, and feeling the flames lick up the surrounding air as its burning heat seared through the air, Jay felt his blood chill as he looked up in horror. The flames - they were attacking again.

Cronus laughed evilly, shaking his head as he watched Jay dodge yet another blow, swinging his xiphos uselessly in the air as he tried to combat with the dire flames. Shaking his head, he smiled, and raising his hand, he suddenly lifted Jay in the air, choking him.

"Don't think you're so smart now, do you, Jay?" Cronus raised an eyebrow, glad to see Jay writhing in pain, gasping for air, yet unable to take a breath of it. The flames were getting nearer, and now that Jay was right in the line of fire, there was no doubt that this was over. Finally. The prophecy was a done deal - no Jay, no seven heroes, and the world would be his! After dealing time and time again with the irritating, bratty twerps who always seemed to best him, it was over. Finally over.

Cronus was just gloating over his success as he watched Herry fling away a giant as though it was as light as a feather and Archie used his sharp, cutting whip on another. It was all useless. All their efforts were useless. So what if Odie and Neil had gotten the hostages free and set them to escape? So what if Atlanta was currently taking down a giant, trying to get away to save Jay? It was all useless, all useless. Jay was in his hands, and nothing could change that.

Suddenly, a cry was emitted from behind him, and he shouted in surprise as a fist powerfully struck the back of his head. Dropping Jay, he turned around and glared at Theresa, who was smugly grinning at him.

Jay fell and hit the ground. Pain shot through his body, and he pushed it aside and stood up. The flames were still hovering in the air - oh no, wait, they were heading in their direction. Dashing again, he ducked at the last moment and escaped the burning flames. Theresa's eyes glowed for a second, and she lifted up her hands, effectively vanquishing the flames telekinetically. Jay's eyes widened at the sight.

"Since when could you do that?" he questioned. He had never seen this power behind her before, so powerful and so strong.

Theresa shrugged. "Since now?"

They were interrupted by an angry yell from Cronus, who stood up and shook his fist at the both of them. "Enough is enough! No more games!" He lifted Jay up in the air again and this time, swung him away, causing Jay to fly in the air and hit a random tree. Facing the orange-haired girl, he shook with rage as he ran to attack her.

He dealt a severe blow to her, causing her to stumble and fall. With the wound on her knees crying out painfully to her, she couldn't move. She was frozen - scared. The sycthes hovered right above her face, as did Cronus' mean expression and his "I'll deal with you first!"

Jay stood up shakily, noticing the rest of the team had successfully mowed down all the giants and were rushing towards them. The next thing he saw were the gleaming sycthes, raised up in the air and that pure rage on Cronus' face. And Theresa. Oh no! Theresa!

He broke out into a mad dash, running, running, running. But he knew he wouldn't make it in time. Cronus was already preparing to kill her. His lungs burning, Jay pushed himself and ran like he had never ran before, not even in a 100-metre dash. Pulling out his xiphos again, he finally did a spectacular dive and landed right in front of a frightened Theresa.

The first thing he felt was something sharp digging into his arm. The next thing he felt was the sharp, searing sensation of pain that ripped through every bone in his body, causing him to break out into cold sweat. And the next thing he saw was the sycthe, buried right into his arm, deep into the flesh. Crying out in pain, Jay never felt worse in his life.

Cronus cackled evilly and was about to say something when he, too, felt a sharp, searing sensation tearing into his stomach. Gasping, he looked down to see the fire, the determination on the worn and rugged leader's face. Then, he saw it. The xiphos was embedded into his stomach and blood was pouring out of the wound Jay had created. Choking, Cronus used all his effort to pull away, injured. Before his flesh could recover, however, he felt another burning pain, and with a cry, he fell to the ground, not knowing that Herry had stuck a lighted match on his wound, hindering its recovery.

Cronus was finally defeated.

Jay tried to force a smile, but he couldn't, and soon he found himself light-headed and dizzy.

The last thing he heard was a cry from Neil that went something like "Oh my gosh that's so much blood!" before he blacked out - completely.

--

The Home Econs stuff was for fun, just to see a little interaction between Jay and Archie. Besides, Home Econs sounds fun, although I haven't actually taken it yet. Also, if you haven't noticed, usually there's some rather random, slightly humourous stuff that comes in the chapters right before the angst or the action comes in.

Sorry, my attempt at writing fighting scenes are a little pathetic, please bear with me there. Oh by the way, I would greatly appreciate it if you could vote for who do you think I should write next in my profile pole. Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Jay opened his eyes and sat up, groaning and rubbing his head ruefully. What had just happened? He found himself on his bed as usual, and... Oh yes, Cronus had been defeated and he had been wounded. Now he recalled all of it with a grin. Finally! Cronus was vanquished, gone, locked up in Tartarus. No longer would he have to worry about him. Now, he could do other equally important things._

_Whistling gaily, he grinned happily as he walked down the stairs to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a carton of juice. Suddenly, he felt his sixth sense kick in as he realised there hadn't been a sound at all coming from the dorm. Frowning a little and looking suspiciously around, he felt increasing dread fill him - Athena wasn't around, and neither was the rest of them. Racing upstairs in a heartbeat, he noisily dashed across the hallway, opening every single door and gazing into every room. He tried to fight his rising panic as he found all of the rooms empty._

_"This can't be!" he said to himself, feeling his heart thud in his chest. "Theresa? Neil? Archie? Herry? Atlanta! Odie! Where are you, guys?"_

_Laughing nervously, he assured himself, "They must be playing a prank on me or something. Or maybe they went out to catch a movie. They're alright. They're alright..."_

_"No, Jay," a familiar, evil voice said, causing Jay to whirl around immediately. "They're not."_

_Jay gasped as he saw Cronus standing before him, the same, vengeful eyes as always. "What... What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be in Tartarus! In prison! You... You bastard, what did you do to the rest of the team!"_

_Cronus laughed, his laugh sending a chill down Jay's spine. He raised his hand and immediately, the still form of Theresa appeared before them, lying motionlessly on the ground, her long wavy hair spilling all over her back and her head. Cronus bent down and grasped the back of her sleeveless shirt, jerking her up into the air and purposely turning Theresa's face in Jay's direction for him to see._

_"They're dead."_

_His cold, chilling voice made Jay's eyes widen in shock and horror. Shaking his head in denial, Jay cried, "No! No! That's impossible! It can't be! It's... It's...!"_

_Seeing Theresa's dead, listless eyes and her limp form hanging lifelessly from Cronus' evil hands, he gave one last, desperate shout. "NO! THERESA!"_

--

"NO! THERESA!"

Jay's eyes shot open, and sweating profusely, he sat up in a jolt and found himself staring into the green, surprised eyes of Theresa.

"Theresa... Oh my gosh, Theresa, is that really you?"

Theresa raised her eyebrows at Jay's surprising outburst and nodded slowly. "Um... Yes?"

Jay swallowed, grasping her shoulders and shaking her lightly as he demanded, "Where's Cronus? Where's the rest of the team?"

Theresa gave him another raised-eyebrow look. "Cronus is in Tartarus Prison, Jay. And the rest of the team are downstairs having their lunch. I already had mine, so I decided to stay here and... And... And look after you."

It was then that Jay's shoulders slumped and he sighed in relief. "I... I had this really bad dream. About Cronus. About the team. I... I... Theresa, thank God I didn't lose you!" Upon saying that, he pulled the shocked girl into his arms in a tight hug, relaxing in the comfort of having her by his side again and not gone forever. He felt an aching pain in his arm and winced, pulling back.

He remembered being cut by Cronus, a deep cut on his arm and probably losing enough blood to actually pass out. Looking at his arm, he saw the wound was now covered by a layer of thick bandages, he sighed in relief.

"I guess that dream was really... Just a dream." Jay murmured, flopping back down onto the pillows.

Theresa affirmed, "Yeah, it was. You probably had such a dream because you always think about Cronus - day and night." She rolled her eyes at this and continued with a soft smile, "Cronus is in jail now. It's over, Jay. It's really over."

Jay smiled back, silence filling the room for a while. Their eyes connected and somehow, some powerful, otherworldly force brought him the strength not to break the gaze. Well, then again, he couldn't if he wanted to - his eyes seemed eternally fixed on hers and unable to move to look away. The beauty of her deep green eyes was too mesmerising for words. Gazing into each other's eyes, this time it was Theresa who broke the gaze ruefully, standing up abruptly.

"Now that I know you're okay, I think I'll better go now. Got to pack, a week isn't a pretty long time." Seeing Jay's confused look, she went on, "Well, I forgot to tell you, Hera said we can leave next week since it'll be the end of our second year here in Olympia High. Yeah, and oh, we'll just be in time for the prom."

Jay nodded slowly, processing this information. Watching as Theresa walked out of his room without looking back, he felt a twinge of sadness - what, no more Theresa, no more Odie, Neil, Archie, Atlanta and Herry? He felt drained suddenly, and not just because of his wound.

Theresa seemed to be sad and she hadn't been reacting much to him... Had she given up on him?

Closing his eyes tightly, he sighed softly and gazed at the ceiling.

It was just too soon to say goodbye.

--

This is a filler chapter, the real "action" is kinda coming up soon. Well, next week I'll have two "off-days" from school so I'll get the chance to type non-stop. Hopefully, I'll finish this soon. Review please!

Sorry for the slight OOC-ness, I don't know, I'm rushing. Bye!


	6. Chapter 6

Another chapter up and away! This chapter is another filler because I realised I couldn't leave the other team members hanging. I mean, Jay's not the _only_ important one in COTT, and neither is Theresa, so I thought I'd adjust the spotlight temporarily to shine on the other teens. After all, everyone's leaving and the team's being sort-of disbanded, and obviously they would have their own thoughts about it, so I decided to play on that first while Jay's resting on the comforts of his bed and Theresa's packing away. Time to get the story rolling! Oh yes, and there's slight AxA here, so be warned.

**Chapter 6**

Atlanta threw open her closet doors and stuck her head inside. Grabbing a blue tee and a handful of clothes, she stumbled to her luggage that lay open on her bed. She then let go of all the clothes and let them fall to the bed messily.

"Ah, that's about the last of them," Atlanta said finally, ignoring the complete and utter chaos of clothes littering her entire, unmade bed and turning to look at her closet. All that remained were a few clothes for the rest of the week; she could always pack that in later.

Sighing, she sat on her bed, recalling the time when this had happened before. The last time, Cronus was locked safely in Tartarus prison - or so they thought. They had packed, gotten all ready to heading for home when they were sent back into their tireless duty of fighting Cronus again, who had cleverly faked his being put away. At that time, she had been sad to leave the dorm she had grown to love, as well as her good, trusty friends, especially Archie, her fellow skate-boarder, and this time there was no difference. In fact, it only made her feel worse. After all, a year more of being together with the team only made them grow closer and inseperable. And now, they needed to go back to their respective homes...

The first time she had arrived in Olympia High, she had felt rather wistful at being away from home (not that she'll actually tell anyone, that is). And she had even felt a teensy little bit homesick. But now, it was the other way round - she was sure she would miss them, and a lot. Even Neil, too.

A knock on her door sounded, and Archie popped his head in the room. A feeling of deja vu swept over Atlanta - this happened the last time too, only... This was really goodbye. Forcing back the tiny tears threatening to spill, she looked up at him and forced a cheery smile.

"Hey, Archie, what's up?"

"Uh... Nothing," Archie stammered, his eyes taking in the view of her strewn clothes and messy room. "Am I disturbing you or something?"

"Nope, not at all." Atlanta grinned at her best friend, the hot-headed, impulsive and stubborn Archie she had come to love. Wait - did she just say _love_? Nah.

Archie scratched his head sheepishly, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, um, I was thinking... Would you like to go to the prom... Uh... With me?"

"With you?" Atlanta's jaws dropped. Alright, so it wasn't that Archie was ugly or something, but going to the prom with Archie would be a tad bit too unnatural for words. I mean, her best friend, dancing along with her? That was _so_ not Archie.

"Yeah, um, I meant it as friends! As friends!" Archie responded quickly, his face turning a darker shade of red. Wow, how embarrassing.

"Hmm, okay sure!" Atlanta agreed immediately, giving him a thumbs-up. "Anything else?"

"Ohh, oh nothing! Nothing, absolutely nothing!" The look of pure joy on his face made her completely and utterly baffled as she watched, dumbfounded, as Archie blushed and walked unsteadily away, forgetting to close the door. A few seconds later, she heard him whoop with excitement for some reason.

Raising her eyebrows, she frowned quizzically and popped her head out of the door to look. Suddenly remembering something, she called out uncertainly to her bumbling friend, "Hey Archie, I forgot to ask, I don't need to wear a dress, do I?"

--

Neil glanced into the mirror, squinting at his own reflection. _Good, no zits,_ he thought to himself, satisfied and he stepped back to take a better look at himself - the head to toe version.

Without knowing it, he sighed. He had come to enjoy this brownstone dorm, _especially_ the cool, luxurious facilities, like his huge mirror or his styled bathroom. The fresh towels, the top-notch view, everything was the life. Well, except for Cronus.

And now, they had to leave. He would never have admitted it, but he had grown fond of the others, even though they always teased him or tossed him glares when he said something that sounded perfectly alright to him. Well, he was all the hype (to himself, at least) but then they were about the best friends anyone could have. As much as he hid it, he did care about them - well, whatever little space in his heart he could hold out for them.

Fighting Cronus was annoying and it usually involved him breaking a fingernail or getting dirty. But, his great luck almost always saved them all! It was just like him anyway - what better skills would a gorgeous, good-looking model like him have besides luck? But now, his luck wasn't needed anymore - it was back to plain old Neil again, the charming model.

So why did he feel so... detached?

He knew why.

He knew he was going to miss them, too, when he left. Miss all those ridiculous times they had together, seeing Archie practice asking Atlanta out on a date and also, he himself being direct and blunt about everything, especially about Jay's crankiness when he went all hoo-hah over Cronus.

Yes, he would, indeed, miss them.

--

Odie stared, eyes glazed, at the screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard. Messing around with the computer was fun. Technology seriously rocked his socks.

After thinking for a while, he decided to call Herry over to play a computer game. Well, he _would_ use his PMR, which would be ridiculous though, since Herry was just in the room adjacent to his. But oh, who cared? This would be about the last time he would use this PMR he invented to call the rest anyway...

Feeling a twinge of sadness within him, Odie bit his lip as he gazed at the PMR that lay on his palm. He remembered the many memories of this PMR held - the calling of the other guys to warn them about something or just to track another's location. Flipping its screen up, he navigated to the files he had stored in his PMR. He smiled slightly with fondness at the pictures that Archie had sent him a long time ago where they were all chilling out and having fun during spring break the year before. It involved Hephaesteus getting toilet bowl water splashed all over him, Jay piggy-backing Theresa and the whole group of them taking a funny snapshot with Archie standing right in front. What a laugh.

He knew he was going to miss these good friends of his. He would probably even miss Jay's Mr Responsible self and Neil's irritating whimpers and egoistical boasting. And what about the good old times when Herry and he had played computer games - of course, with him emerging as the victor, obviously. And Archie's and Atlanta's occassional bantering and perhaps, even Theresa's many visions.

Whatever it was, he was a hundred per cent sure he would never forget these good old friends of his. It had only been two years, but they were the friends that had the biggest impact on him of all his other friends he had ever made. _Ever_.

With a sad smile, he knew he would have to put away this sadness and enjoy their last moments together as a once-inseperable team.

With that said, he picked up his PMR and dialled Herry's. Well, this was going to be a _fun_ game anyway.

--

Was it okay? It was pretty much filler, yup. I didn't have time to include Herry, but at least he's mentioned in Odie's POV. Haha, the next chapter should be getting down to serious business - more Jay and Theresa stuff coming RIGHT up. Please leave a review regardless whether you have posted one before or you haven't! Thanks.(:


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Theresa gazed at her suitcase, which was lying open and on the floor. Clothes were neatly packed in and orderly, her favourite things were carefully placed inside a corner, especially that beautiful necklace Jay had given her once, and a file full of her photos with her friends lay at the bottom of her suitcase, hidden from view. Yet all these didn't seem to enter her mind except for the one tiny thing that meant the most to her - that precious necklace. Jay had given it to her on one of their summer breaks and, while he hadn't mentioned anything about liking her, it was still a sweet gesture of him to do something like that. It had a tiny pendant, which was in the shape of a beautiful heart, and it was silver and sleek, cool to the touch. It must have cost a fortune, at least to a school-going teenager, and she really valued it.

Picking it up, she wistfully recalled the times they had shared, the little moments. A sense of sadness washed over her and tears unknowingly sprung to her emerald eyes as she realised this was the last time she would hear his warm laugh or see that cute grin of his. Gosh, she might even miss his somewhat bossiness when it came to Cronus, who, speaking of which, was now locked up in a dark, dingy prison. She even almost wished she could undo everything they had achieved in the last few days so that Cronus would still be free and undefeated, leaving the heroes to remain together.

Theresa swallowed, brushing back those warm tears that were quietly sliding down her cheeks. With this move, all she would have left was those memories that would remain with her forever, as well as... The pain of rejection, knowing that Jay had never loved her but had treated her only as a friend, even if only a good one. It was official. She had given up on him, given up on her waning desire to feel his embrace, comforting and warm, and his love for her. It was impossible, truly impossible. And now they were leaving, she could only sigh and try to forget him. Try to erase those memories, golden and true, that were firmly imprinted, engraved, in her mind, replaying them, those happy moments, as though they were just yesterday. And no matter how she screwed her eyes shut and willed herself to forget everything, she couldn't - how could she stomp on and throw away everything she had lived for for these past two years, the love that she had felt overwhelming her and a sunny smile he brought to her face everytime she saw him?

She had never expected to fall so deeply in love with someone before, but her heart was broken, crushed beyond repair. She would forever live in the shadows of rejection, never to try to touch love again... She had never known it would hurt her so deeply - where were all those classical, happy-ending fairytales when you needed them? For this was the hard truth reality pushed to you, almost like a curse, where dreams would remain unfulfilled and hidden at the back of your mind, lost and forgotten. Fantasy was beautiful, you could twist it anyway you liked, but in the end, you would be forced out of that beauty and into the harsh, realistic world that you had to live in.

Dropping the necklace back into the suitcase, Theresa forced a shaky smile and got up, trying to remind herself that life wasn't as bleak as she made it sound. After all, life was what you made out of it, wasn't it? So what if Jay didn't feel the same? There were plenty of other guys out there - guys like Derek, for example.

Walking towards the desk without a reason, she noticed her handwriting on a piece of post-it note. Derek's number. She had gotten it from a friend and she had been planning to call. For a while, she had been avoiding thinking about that prom. She didn't love Derek, of course not, she had barely known him for a day. Even if Jay didn't love her, for the most part she would remain true to her unrequited feelings, but now, she didn't know anymore.

Sighing, she decided to go up to the dorm's open roof and chill out for a while. Maybe then would she be able to make a proper decision. She sure didn't want to regret doing anything. Thus, with her heart feeling empty and gone, she slowly walked out of her room as though she was in a trance and made her way up to the roof.

--

Jay paced the room thoughtfully, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. Ignoring his luggage that lay on the ground and posed as a hazard to his pacing up and down, he pondered on something.

Should he, should he not?

Now that Cronus was defeated and down, he was free to finally tell Theresa everything. But was he sure he wanted to? He was pretty certain she had given up on him a long time ago, plus that Derek... It was obvious she had some sort of attraction going on for him, at least, and the last thing he wanted to do was go around wrecking her happiness and breaking his own heart over rejection.

Was it really worth it?

To put their long-term friendship at stake, everything they had lived for, just for one moment? What if she said no? It didn't matter whether she said no or yes, their relationship would well and truly be changed, whether the both of them liked it or not. And it could destroy that glorious and steady friendship they had built up, dash it all on the rocks. Was he sure he wanted to take that chance?

Sighing, he sat down on his bed, biting his lip in uncertainty.

Now the question was, should he...

Or should he not?

--

A peaceful sigh escaped Theresa's lips as she leaned on the railing of the side of the roof, contented to enjoy the serene atmosphere. Beautiful, fluffy clouds drifted above, floating across the azure blue sky, and a gentle breeze wafted through her orange hair.

Walking around aimlessly, she came to a halt when she neared the long rectangular plot of soil which had their many plants planted on it. As she gazed at the rose that was the first flower in the little plot, the memory came back to her, as vivid as day. All of them had been happily planting plants in the roof for no apparent reason, and although Neil whined about getting dirt under his fingernails and getting soil on his designer clothes, they had all admittedly enjoyed the planting session, weirdly so. Theresa's shoulders slumped as she touched the sagging petals of the once-beautiful flower and remembered how vibrant and full of life it had once looked when she and Jay had planted it together. Now, it was wilting - as though it was following the pattern of the relationship between Jay and her, which was likewise slowly dying and fading into non-existence.

Was that how it was destined to be?

The sadness of it all brought the warm tears back to her eyes, and she blinked them back furiously, telling herself to stop crying. That relationship was long gone and beyond from saving, so she should just move on and get on with life. It was a done deal, a closed thing, never to be opened up and explored, for he had never loved her and he never would.

Straightening up, she thought back to that crumpled piece of post-it note on her table with a certain someone's number scrawled onto it. And suddenly, pushing away her emotions that were filling every fibre of her body, she walked towards the staircase with a purpose in her mind.

And she knew what she had to do.

--

Jay hovered nervously at Theresa's closed door, his heart thudding in anticipation.

He had made his decision.

He was finally going to ask her out to the prom.

Well, if only he could gather his courage enough to ask her, then everything would be okay. He sure felt like an idiot standing outside and raising a hand to knock but never letting the rap on the door come. His hand was itching to knock, his heart was beating like it never had before and his mind was telling him this was all just a big mistake. Jay wondered if he really _was_ doing the right thing, but it was too late to back off now. He was already here, standing before her door like a eager little boy, and he might just as well get over and done with it. And he had better do it fast, before one of his other friends came and saw what he was doing. Then he would never live it down. He would have to lie in a hole under the garden for the rest of his life to escape embarrassment.

Inhaling sharply, Jay nodded to himself. _This is it,_ he told himself with shaky confidence as he raised his hand to knock determinedly. _I'm going to do this and no one's going to stop me._ Nodding encouragingly to himself, he was about to bring his hand down on the door when he froze. He heard something. Curiosity getting the better of him, he put his ear to the door and listened intently. His jaw dropped at what he was hearing. Never mind that he was eavesdropping, something that was against his values. Theresa had just called Derek and was talking to him! She was probably going to tell him that she accepted his offer and then he wouldn't stand a chance!

Instead of feeling demoralised, he felt new courage sweep through him and he immediately burst into the door, letting the door fly open and crash against the wall with a loud thud. Theresa gaped, staring at the flushed face of the brown-haired leader and she motioned with her hands to ask him what was going on. Hastily, he gestured with an alarmed look at her phone, making her raise her eyebrow at him in confusion.

"The phone!" he whispered loudly, pointing to the phone.

Theresa frowned at him and she talked into the phone, "Sorry, I was talking to my friend just now. I just wanted to tell you that I accept the -"

Jay threw up his hands, a wild expression on his face.

Seeing his expression of fear, Theresa gasped, saying into the phone, "Hold on for a sec, sorry - Jay, don't tell me Cronus is out again?!"

Jay shook his head and Theresa looked peeved and annoyed as she said to Derek, "Sorry for M.I.A.ing just now, anyway, where was I? Oh right, I was saying that for the prom, I -"

This was it. It was over. Jay's head spun in confusion, trying to think of a worthy plan to stop her from telling that Derek. But it was too late.

Suddenly, his mind in a whirl, he bounded over to the phone line and in one fell swoop, snatched the phone line right out of the socket. Theresa's eyes widened as she watched - no, _heard_ - the phone go dead and she sat there in shock for a few seconds before standing up and almost yelling at Jay.

"What do you think you're doing?! I was just about to tell Derek that I decided to go to the prom with him and you just had to pull the line! What were you thinking?! Don't you think you could have waited! It's only a few minutes, won't kill you, wouldn't it?!"

Jay gave her a sheepish look, then ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Well, I was thinking of something, and then I wanted you to know before you decided anything..." he said lamely, earning a hard stare from Theresa, who put her hands on her hips.

"I thought... Well... Um... Maybe... Would you like to go to the prom with me?" Jay asked hopefully.

Seeing her expression melt and her gaze soften, he felt his heart soar with hope. Maybe, just _maybe_...

"I think I'm going to call Derek," she said, pushing the line back into the socket and picking up the phone.

A moment's hope gone, Jay felt crushed; his face reflected his crestfallen features. "Oh, so... So you don't want to go with me. It's okay anyway, I'll just..."

"Hello, Derek?" Theresa spoke, completely ignoring Jay. "About the prom, sorry, I've got a date already, thanks anyway. Hmm, yeah... Bye, thanks again!"

Putting down the phone and turning to Jay brightly, she questioned innocently, "What did you just say, Jay?"

--

Yay, this is finally out of my system! Haha, okay I am still in the midst of my exams and am mugging for the dreaded Biology test tomorrow, but anyway. Enough about that, another chapter is finally up!

Those scenes that Theresa remembers, some of them I've created, so don't worry if you're wondering which episodes they came from. Sorry if there're mistakes everywhere, I have no time to spot-check, I need to sleep soon and I haven't even touched my Heart-related notes...! Please read and review, let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

Hello guys, today's the last day of my MYAs and now that the oh-so-terrible Math paper is OVER, I am finally free to do ANYTHING I like! YES! This rocks! Of course, my Geog marks don't rock, (got them back today and seriously spoiled my mood; I missed 4.0 GPA by 1.4 marks!!) it can't dampen my holiday spirit for long, and here I am!

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own At the Beginning, it was sung by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis and it was with the album of Anastasia (I think).

**Chapter 8**

"Theresa, what's taking you?" Jay called awkwardly at Theresa's door, hoping she would hear him. She had been spending more than an hour in her room, probably getting ready, and now the prom would be starting in about half an hour's time, and Jay never liked to be late. "Could you hurry a little? Herry and the others have already left!"

"Coming!" Theresa yelled, hurriedly snapping the pin atop her hair. She picked up her handbag, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror and smiled with satisfaction. Swinging the door open with a flushed face, she grinned at him and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting..."

Her words fell on deaf ears as Jay's jaws dropped and he looked, goggled-eyed at her. She was wearing a glamourous purple gown with intricate patterns at the bottom and she had let her hair down, allowing it to flow down her shoulders in a way that made his dreams come alive. The dress accentuated every curve in her body, and she was just the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Gosh, if Olympia High had election for Prom Queen, she would have easily taken the title. He was seriously one lucky guy.

Seeing his wide-eyed stare, she laughed, causing him to blush and look away for a second. "You... You look great," he murmured, feeling embarrassed to be caught ogling again.

"You don't look too bad yourself!" she replied with an award-winning grin, taking his arm. He was wearing a creaseless tuxedo, black bow neatly tied, and he looked absolutely perfect, the handsomest guy on Earth, possibly. Suddenly she knew why she had been attracted to him in the first place when they'd first met. Forget the polo shirt and ragged jeans, he looked like the cutest guy on the planet.

Carefully making her way down to the living room while holding the banister, she slipped into her white, high-heeled slippers as she watched Jay dazedly put on his shoes.

Oh, this was going to be a wonderful night.

--

There had been only one thing on his mind that night, and it was the most important of them all. He wasn't worrying about Cronus for once, but he was nervous about something else.

This was his big chance, his big chance to tell her. Tell her that he loved her. And it would be one of his last, too - they were going to be leaving for home soon, and it would be over. No more Theresa, no more chances to tell her, and he didn't want them to drift apart or her to starting dating another guy and worse of all, forgetting him.

Yet then when Cronus had still been around, it had seemed so easy and so simple - defeat Cronus and spill the beans. But now that they've come to that stage, he wondered what was he _thinking_ then - it was nowhere near as easy as he had pictured it to be. In fact, this was worse than asking her out to the prom. Suddenly, fears of rejection were oh-so-evident, and they were stood in his way like a huge boulder in the middle of the road obstructing traffic.

But he had to.

He couldn't let it end this way. Not again. Not where he just merely said, "Hey, Theresa, I'm going to miss you, you've been a great friend, someone I'll never forget." That would be so impossibly _fake_; it was definitely more than that. He didn't want it as friends, he wanted something more, because he knew he didn't think her as just merely a friend anymore. He loved her...

"Hey, can we dance?" Theresa pulled his arm slightly. They had been standing by the punch bowl for almost ten minutes, and she didn't want to let this enjoyable time slip away.

"Huh? Oh, oh yeah, sure," he replied, smiling back at her, his mind still deciding on a time when he should tell her.

As they took to the dance floor, a new song started playing.

_We were strangers, starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through  
Now here we are, I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you_

He smiled inwardly, feeling a little nolstagic. It sounded a _lot_ like them - all the Cronus-customed dangers that had lurked at every corner, all those monsters and giants they'd battled and defeated... They had once been strangers who knew nothing about each other, and now, they were the best of friends, dancing together on the dance floor... Who was he kidding? He really _did_ love her.

_No one told me I was going to find you  
Unexpected, what you did to my heart  
When I lost hope, you were there to remind me  
This is the start_

He had been completely contented with his life before the Cronus saga had begun. He had friends, he had family, he had good grades - what more could he want? He never knew until he met her. He had been attracted to her at first, and surprised to see such a more... feminine girl join the gang. Wasn't this battle against Cronus, a god of time and brutality? His reasoning was not justified, for when he saw her first flying punch, he knew she was more than just a kid with tons of money on her hands to play around with.

When he had lost hope in himself, she had always been there to poke him and encourage him, with all her handy advice and what not. Although he hadn't taken all of it (her advice, he meant), it was still comforting to have someone reassure you that the others were all behind him and that she was, too. She had always been his energy, his strength, his hope, the one who sustained him, and he couldn't deny that.

For all his non-interest in girls, she had definitely sparked something in his heart that had been lying dormant for a while since his painful last break-up with a girl a few years back... And now perhaps he was willing to give love another shot again.

_And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

She was all he wanted now.

_We were strangers on a crazy adventure  
Never dreaming, how our dreams would come true  
Now here we stand, unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you_

She was almost part of his life.

_And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

A part of his life, a chapter that he never wanted to end.

_Knew there was somebody, somewhere  
Like me alone in the dark  
Now I know my dream will live on  
I've been waiting so long  
Nothing's gonna tear us apart_

If he didn't tell her soon, something would tear them apart. Could he really bear knowing he never tried, never attempted, to tell her - tell her anything at all?

What if she felt the same way? Then they would be missing out on a lot...

But, what if she didn't?

_And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

"Jay? Jay-ay, are you there? Earth to Jay!" Jay blinked and snapped back to reality. A rather crossed Theresa stood there in the middle of the dance floor, her hands on her hips, and they had stopped dancing. "Would you just stop thinking of Cronus already? I know he's escaped the last time he got in, but then, this is for real now!" Her big deep green eyes filled with hurt for a second as she continued, murmuring lowly, "And I thought this would be one of our last, nice moments. What wishful thinking."

Jay winced, replying instantly. "No, no, I wasn't thinking of Cronus, I was thinking of something else. I... I'm sorry." Oh no, now she had gotten the wrong idea.

But Theresa's eyes still welled up with tears as she looked down. "It's always like this. Cronus this, Cronus that. You know what? I should have known that this would be another one of those times." She bit her lip and whispered, "I'm sick of it." Turning on her heel abruptly and brushing away her tears, she walked right out of the school hall without looking back.

Jay's eyes widened as he watched her walk out of the school hall. Oh gosh. She had gotten the wrong idea _totally_. He didn't know whether he should go and apologise or if he should actually just leave her be to cool down. He didn't want to face her wrath, for he knew that once she got angry, her rage was pretty terrifying, just like all girls' tempers were. Frowning and stopping to think, he stood right in the middle of the dance floor, not aware that he was looking like a complete and utter idiot.

_Life is a road that I wanna keep going on  
Love is a river, I wanna keep going_

_Starting out on a journey_

_Life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

Jay looked around and suddenly noticed the song had already ended. Had it been that fast? And now it was over.

He didn't think he wanted to go after Theresa. Maybe he should just sit here and wait, wait for her to come back like she always did. Make her suffer and wait for him again... He was such a coward. Standing here, thinking then running away.

"You know what? I think I'll go and find her," Jay thought aloud to himself and turning to go to the door, he noticed Atlanta in her short, green dress and Archie dancing away happily, having a time of their lives. He couldn't help but grin.

Okay, so if Archie could do something like that, then _he_ should have nothing to fear. After all, this was Archie the dork - ahem, the _shy friend_ - he was talking about.

He hurried through the door this time, willing himself not to back away from this.

--

A tiny sob escaped Theresa's lips as she put her head in her arms. She was sitting in the school garden, on that little bench. History had repeated itself, shown to her that she wasn't destined to be with Jay. In fact, just a few days ago she had given up on him, but then he had surprisingly asked her out, and she decided to give him a chance to redeem himself, but... It was all hopeless. His mind would always be on Cronus, even when the latter was locked away, and he would never give her the attention she had come to hope for. And to think she had dreamily spent the whole night before awake and excitedly awaiting for this day to come, and to think that she had specially dressed herself nicely up for him. Because it was never enough.

Ignoring the fact that the hem of her dress was brushing against the light grass below her feet, she leaned back and sighed. Maybe she should just go home. This day had been an utter disappointment, and she didn't want to sit here and wallow in self-pity for the whole night... Knowing Jay, he wouldn't come for her, and she'd just be sitting here like an idiot if she waited for him. Empty hope was something that had already disappeared over the long, endless period of waiting for him, and she knew she couldn't wait any longer. She should just move on and get on with it, and accept the fact that he would never love her...

Shoulders drooping a little, she blinked back the tears that threatened to spill. Thankfully, this night she had opted for the _natural_ look, if not her mascara would have smudged and her entire face would be swimming with the inky blackness of it.

She had just started to stand when Jay came rushing into the garden unexpectedly, making her blink in surprise and raise an eyebrow.

Okay, so maybe she was wrong. So what if she was wrong? Psychics weren't always right, and this mistake of hers was warmly welcomed.

"Look, Theresa, about just now, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to just drift away like that, it isn't that you don't mean a lot to me, I was just thinking of something important, I'm sorry..." Jay immediately blurted out the moment he rushed to her, a look of panic on his face, as though he was afraid she would eat him up. Seriously, she didn't know that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she decided to take it as good that he had actually showed up and smiled.

"Never mind, it's alright," she said, patting the seat beside her. He sat down, looking rather relieved.

There was silence for a while, and all they did was relish in the peaceful atmosphere and in each other's company. Finally, Theresa asked, breaking the silence, "So then, what were you daydreaming about just now?"

Jay almost fell off the little bench. His head swimming with thousands of possible excuses but not grasping any, he was stunned, shocked and totally unprepared for a question like _that_. He hadn't even seen it coming. Now what? Stammering, he decided to stall for time. "Um... What daydream?"

He saw Theresa pout and cross her arms. "You know, just now on the dance floor. You spaced out on me. Remember? Hello? We were just talking about that."

Jay gulped, looking away for a second. Should he tell her what had _really_ been on his mind? That would be insane, not to mention embarrassing! Was he sure he wanted to tell her _now_?

A realisation struck him. _I'm trying to escape telling her again. I'm trying to deny my feelings for her again._ Jay closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. He should tell her now. Anyway, he had been planning to this night, and after this, they might never see each other again. It was now or never.

"I... I was thinking about how beautiful you look tonight," he started honestly, for once not stammering and making himself look like a fool. "And I was thinking about how much you mean to me, and... And about _us_."

He could see Theresa's eyes widen and she looked at him hopefully, awaiting those words. Those words that should come next. Suddenly, he knew that she had still waited for him and that maybe, this really _could_ just work out.

And also suddenly, he felt his mouth turn dry and as though his throat was blocked. Trying to get words out, he finally said, "And... And... I... I... I'll really miss you, you've been the greatest friend to me ever."

Wait a minute, what did he just say? Oh great, he had said all the totally wrong words!

Seeing the hope on Theresa's face diminish and her face fall, he winced inwardly and quickly stepped in to say more, "And, I'll never forget a friend like you."

Wrong, wrong, _wrong_! What was he saying?! Not only had he sounded lame, he had said everything that he hadn't _wanted_ to say! Argh, his mouth - and mind - was betraying him!

Theresa looked up, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah, you've... You've been a great friend too, Jay, I'll really miss you too." Her soft, almost-a-whisper words almost drove him crazy.

Jay almost groaned out loud, but he had to settle for groaning inwardly. He was messing this up again!

Willing himself to set this right, he finally said, "You are a great friend, Theresa, but... But... But..." He knew his face was turning red, but he couldn't help it. He had to say this before she left him without ever knowing that he had loved her. And that would be the worst of them all.

"You're mean much more than that to me."

Her surprised look and blush made him blush harder, but he continued, sighing first to calm himself down and prepare himself for what he would say next.

"Theresa, I love you."

It was quiet for a while, and time seemed to pass so slowly then; a second like an hour. He was frozen, anticipating her possible rejection or some response. He was sure his heart had actually skipped a beat.

Then, he saw a smile spread over her face and she gushed, "Jay, oh, I love you too!"

Heaving a sigh of relief before taking on a grin of joy, he replied with a raised eyebrow, "You... You do?"

Theresa gave him a pointed look that made him cringe and answer his own question. "Okay, you do."

Smiling like an idiot, he thought to himself, _now what_? He couldn't stop grinning, but he didn't know what to say next. Isn't this the classic, get-together confession scene were a kiss would be needed? Yet he was a bit too embarrassed at this moment to do anything near that. Anyway, he didn't know if she would oblige, but well, he did know he _wanted_ to...

He decided to put the classic kiss idea aside for a while and relaxed, back fully on the bench, as he turned to her. "You know, I was thinking, do you want to stay here at New Olympia for our last year here? I was thinking, maybe, the both of us could remain here for our last year of high school study before leaving for college... Even if Cronus is behind bars and he's going to be staying that way for a long time to come, I... I'll miss you. A lot."

Theresa hesitated. "I don't know, my daddy might want me to come back. Well, but then again, he's too wrapped up in his work to care about anything else at the moment." She looked downcast for a second, then she brightened. "But, well, I've got you!"

Jay smiled back at her gently, his eyes on hers and hers on his. "Yeah, you do."

And they held that same electrifying gaze, neither breaking it. Her face was just inches apart and so near that he would have blushed... But he didn't. Before he knew it, he felt his hand go up to cup her chin gently and his face moved closer to hers, his eyes closing at the exact same time as hers. And then...

His PMR rang, jolting the two of them apart and ruining the moment. He sighed, a little annoyed, as he took out his PMR and flipped it open rather grumpily with an irritated Theresa looking over his shoulder to see who it was.

Odie's face came onto the screen, and he looked worried. "Jay, we've got something big again."

"What is it?! Don't tell me that Archie's kissing Atlanta or something!" Jay snapped irrately. About a few seconds later he felt a little guilty for taking his anger out on Odie _and_ sort-of ridiculing Archie and Atlanta; he had been mean even though it wasn't their fault. He was about to apologize when a peeved Odie continued speaking.

"Well, no, although that _would_ be pretty big too, we have something _bigger_ on our sleeves. Hermes just called, he recieved news from Persephone that Cronus has just mysteriously disappeared from prison!"

"What?!" the couple cried, looking at each other.

Oh, prom was just about the most exciting event in the world, what with confessions, dancing, kisses, and... The god of time.

--

How was that? I was pretty pleased with it because they have finally gotten together. I think this is the one chapter that I made Jay seem OC enough! Hopefully, this will keep you in suspense. Please read and review, I would love that! I will post the next chapter tomorrow, and I have already gotten the last chapter written, strangely so. I wrote the last chapter after I had finished up Chapter 6 before I wrote 7, 8 and 9. There should be two more chapters to go, and then this fic is officially over. That would be kinda sad, I know - this is the first long-story fic I've written, and this one beats all of my records of longest story so far - it has a whooping 3,692 words, which is a lot for one chapter since I usually keep them slightly more condensed. But anyway, hope you enjoyed this!


	9. Chapter 9

Here is the second last chapter! It's pretty cool to think I've actually written a full story, even though it's somewhat short. It's been great writing this story, even though some of the characters seem OOC at times. I really enjoyed this and I thank everyone who reviewed for reviewing, please continue to follow this story to the last chapter! :D

**Chapter 9**

"Cronus is out again, we need to go to Tartarus to search around," Jay announced, standing in the garden. All his other teammates looked serious and nodded. They were still in their prom get-up, with Atlanta and Theresa in their dresses and the guys in their suits, making it look a little weird that they, wearing formal wear, were discussing what Cronus might have done.

"Does everyone have their weapons?" Jay asked, looking around and taking out his xiphos just to show that he'd brought it along. He guessed they probably hadn't, seeing how relaxed everyone had been after Cronus was defeated. To his utmost surprise, he watched as Archie pulled out his whip from his pocket, Atlanta grabbed her normal weapon from her handbag and Theresa dug out her nunchucks from hers. Wow. They had really learnt from him. But at the next second, he was proved wrong when Neil grinned and took out his mirror, waving it at Jay and causing the leader to give him an exasperated groan. Okay, maybe not _everyone_.

"Okay, good. I don't think we'll have time to change out of our outfits; Cronus might still be in Tartarus now, and we have a chance of stopping him for good!" Jay declared, but he looked a little dubiously at Theresa's gown.

Theresa gaped at him, giving him a pointed look. "What, you expect _me_ to fight in _this_? I'd be _helpless_ in this dress! At least Atlanta's dress is short, she can still run, but I'll just trip and land on my face!"

Jay frowned. "Then stay behind me. We can't afford to let precious time slip through our fingers, precious time which would determine whether we'll find Cronus or not!" Turning to the rest, he continued determinedly, "Come on, let's go!" Without letting Theresa say another word, he led the team to the dark class hallways and into the janitor's closet, ignoring Theresa's pout.

--

Cerberus bowed its three heads down as it eagerly gobbled up its meal, ignoring Persephone's presence, seeing that she was the Queen of the Underworld and a frequent visitor. And since those seven heroes, foreigners, were with her, it saw no reason to try and prevent them from entering the gates of the underworld.

"...And when my darling hubby Hades went to check on Cronus personally to see if he was there, the guard was still there and hadn't see a thing. Cronus just vanished into thin air!" Persephone frowned, gazing at the heroes. "We've been searching everywhere for him but we couldn't find him. Could it be possible that he has escaped or something? But no one could disappear just like that, not even Zeus himself!"

Jay rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he's still on the grounds. Let's head to the prison and split up. Archie, Atlanta, you guys take the west wing, Herry, Odie, you two go search the east wing and Theresa, Neil and I will scout the middle. Alright? Let's get in and roll!"

"Wait!" A whine from Neil caused the others to swivel around and raise an eyebrow at him in unison.

"What now, you've left your moisturiser behind?" Archie snickered, putting his hands on his hips and giving Neil a look.

"Well, no-o, I need to answer the call of nature, and _bad_!" Neil looked uneasy and rather squirmish, and he was holding his stomach.

"Not now, Neil, every second is precious, after we've combed the area then you can go," Jay replied absently, his mind on other matters. The rest turned to look at Jay, giving him a disbelieving look at him for depriving Neil of relieving himself but not arguing. After all, the lucky boy was finally in a "precadiment" - who wasn't up for firsts?

As the team entered the gates of the Underworld and Cerberus looked on, Odie winked at Neil and nudged him. "Be careful not to wet your pants," he said teasingly and earning a glare from the blonde.

Well, it's time some of Neil's luck ran out on him.

--

"I don't think there's anything here, but we better check," Archie mused as they walked down the hall.

"Well, Cronus might be here somewhere. How about we do a quick check and then join Jay, Theresa and Neil? Race you there!" Without even finishing her sentence yet, she already zipped forward with a grin, her keen eyesight taking in the prison cells, the grumpy and solemn prisoners, but no Cronus.

Before Archie had even moved, she returned with a smile. "Aww, Arch, you were too slow this time."

Archie scowled. He hated being bested by his best friend, even though he _did_ love her. But this was competitive love they were talking. Deciding to change the subject and turn it away from Atlanta's small victory, he asked, "Well, did you see anything?"

"Well, yeah of course I did. I saw a bunch of prisoners, a bunch of metal doors and a purple-haired dork," Atlanta answered, sticking out her tongue at him.

He merely rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You know what I mean, Atlanta. Did you see Cronus?"

Atlanta gave him a peeved look and said, "What do you think? I think he's already long gone; it's pretty obvious. He is the God of Time after all."

"Well, we better check a second time then," Archie immediately replied, a look of worry crossing his face. "Your search was too fast, it wasn't any bit thorough at all, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Excuse me?" Atlanta poked his chest and gave him a look. "It might be fast, but it was just as thorough. Gosh, you're starting to sound like Jay."

"Jay?!" Archie exclaimed, holding up his hands in dismay at being referred to Jay. "No way! I'm not becoming Mr. Responsible. I'm just playing on the safe side."

"Both are the same thing," Atlanta muttered under her breath, then she shrugged. "Fine, whatever, we can check again."

With that, the two walked slowly down the aisle, checking for any sign of the God of Time.

"You know what? This dress is ridiculous!" Atlanta complained after a while, glaring at the soft, silky fabric she was wearing. Thankfully, it hadn't really hindered her running.

Archie gave her a look. "Well, I don't think so. I think... I think you... You look nice in it."

"You... You _do_?" Atlanta stopped in her tracks, eyes widening. A blush began to creep onto her cheeks, much to her horror, and she immediately turned away, wondering why her face was flaming.

"Yeah, I do." Archie stared at her back, prodding her on the shoulder. "Hey, you okay there? Is anything wrong?" Concern was evident in his tone.

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine," she replied, her back still turned on him. Avoiding his probably stunned eyes, she grabbed his hand and dragged him forward. "Let's continue searching, forget I even said anything about my dress."

Pulling a protesting Archie behind her, her confused feelings told her something. What was so wrong with her? This was her best friend, not her little high-school sweetheart! She was probably just having a weird reaction because... Because... Because she wasn't used to being praised by a guy friend. Yeah, that was it.

Sighing and pushing it out of her mind, she concentrated on finding her goal. She could think about that later. Right now, finding Cronus came first.

--

Herry frowned, scratching his head as he and Odie walked down the aisle.

"You know what?" Herry asked, turning to Odie as they continued to keep a vigilant look-out.

"What? Have you spotted something suspicious?" Odie responded, PMR already gripped tightly in hand to call Jay the first thing they saw Cronus or something out-of-the-ordinary.

"No, I feel hungry," Herry winced, rubbing his stomach ruefully. "I didn't bring any food. Did you?"

"No, I didn't," Odie said. He pulled at his collar irrately, wiping off beads of sweat from his face with the other hand. "You know, is it me or is really hot in here? I don't remember feeling this heat wave the last time we came here."

"It's hot in here, definitely. We're wearing suits, remember, Odie?"

"Oh right!" Odie slapped his head with a sweaty palm.

"And I thought you were the smart one."

"I was! I mean, I am!" Odie protested, crossing his arms in irritation. "I just, well, forgot that fact."

"_Right_."

"I'm serious!"

And they continued their little bantering as they walked down the hall in search of the elusive God of Time.

--

Stumbling forward in her heels over the rough, ragged floor of the prison, Theresa grumbled, "Jay, help here?"

Jay didn't turn back; his eyes were still roving about, looking, searching silently. "Not now, Theresa."

"Why don't you quit complaining?" Neil complained, holding his stomach and looking pale. "_I'm_ the one who should be screaming at Jay now? He's the one who prevented me from going off and answering the call of nature."

"And what, this is not good for your skin?" Theresa snapped back, pulling her dress high up so she wouldn't trip. Suddenly, high heels didn't seem like such a good idea for prom when she knew she was destined to defeat a certain god of time. Sighing, she wondered how her heels had seemingly become so awfully high. Glaring at Neil, she sniggered, "Well, but you might have bladder control problems when you grow old, you're not supposed to keep so much water in your stomach."

Neil shrieked, giving her a frightened look. "Really?! Are you sure?!"

Theresa nodded mock-seriously. "Yes, it's been scientifically proven."

Not noticing her evident sarcasm, he let go of his stomach and put a hand to his forehead. "Oh no!" he wailed, his eyes almost popping out. "I'm going to die!"

"No, you're going to wet yourself," Theresa pointed out to a distraught Neil, who totally ignored her as he worried for his future, "leaking" self.

"Cut it out, you two," Jay said, turning around and crossing your arms. They had paused right in front of the guard of Cronus' cell, but they didn't notice the guard was looking rather intently at them.

Sighing, Jay grimaced and said, "Neil, is it really _that_ urgent?"

"Hello?!" Neil whined, giving Jay a doubtful look. "Do I _look_ like I'm bluffing?" Well, he didn't; he was doubled up, his face was now an even ghostlier pale than before, and he looked really, _really_ uncomfortable.

Hesitating for a while, Jay finally said, "Fine, alright, you can go, but you better get back here in a minute's time."

"Well, about _time_, Jay!" Neil glared at their leader. "Took you a pretty long time to decide, didn't it?"

"My apologies, my dear Neil, but I don't think you'll have time to use the toilet." An evil cackle rose from behind them, and Jay turned to see the guard morphing into Cronus, who immediately summoned his scythes to his hand.

"Oh. My. _Gosh_." Neil's jaw dropped, and he bent down until he was almost touching the floor. "How can I be... So _unlucky_?!"

Theresa reached for her nunchucks and Jay's hand was already on his xiphos as both ignored the kneeling Neil (A/N: No pun intended at the 'kneeling Neil' part!).

Cronus raised his eyebrow at them. There was something different from them this time, what was it? Oh, their attire. He kept his eyebrow raised as he surveyed Theresa's clothes and wondered why she had dressed up so nicely for a fight.

"Seems like you've come to celebrate my escape, have you?" Cronus said, smiling at the teens. How nice of them to prepare something as extravagant of that to welcome him back. Well, of course he was being sarcastic here.

"You _wish_, Cronus," Jay spat out the words with contempt, his mouth set in a firm line as he raised his sword threateningly, ready to strike.

"All of you, so innocent and naive really," Cronus said laughingly, rolling his eyes at the three of the heroes. "Did you really think I'd be defeated? That's impossible! The Oracle said seven heroes would defeat me, but he never said I wouldn't be able to get out of prison, did he? I just had to knock out the poor guard, drag him to a corner and impersonate him. And my dear son Hades and his wife Persephone didn't even notice! Next, the whole world thought I'd mysteriously escaped. Ah, how sad - and _foolish_!"

Theresa glared at him, swinging her nunchucks dangerously. "That doesn't matter, Cronus! We'll always be here to put you right back in Tartarus!"

"Really, my dear girl? You can't even fight in that gown. You can't fool me!" He raised his hands and telekinetically raised her in the air, bringing her to him. Before Theresa could react, he gripped her throat relentlessly, a chilling, cruel look on his face. She kicked around desperately, choking and trying to escape his choke-hold but no avail. It was a futile attempt, and Theresa, from the lack of oxygen, gasped pointlessly for air as she struggled to get some air.

"Jay, you can have the honour of seeing your one true love go down the drain!" Cronus lifted her higher in the air, where Theresa was slowly losing her energy.

Jay gasped, a look of horror taking over his features. "How... How did you know?!"

"I've got sources, Jay," Cronus replied evilly, bringing Theresa down to his face level. "Do you think a god like me wouldn't know of such things? What insolence."

Theresa's big green eyes were wide and unblinking as she fruitlessly tried to get out of this sticky situation. Finally, she stopped, closing her eyes.

Cronus gave a chilling laugh, looking at her limp body. "Well, look what we've got here. A dead body, is it?"

"You... You!" Rage boiled within him, and with a cry of burning anger, he charged towards Cronus, but was deflected almost immediately. He crashed to the ground, watching helplessly at the still form of Theresa. "NOOO!"

Suddenly, he saw Theresa's eyes open and she smiled wickedly, kicking up her high-heeled slipper suddenly into Cronus' face, catching him on the unawares. Crying aloud at the sharp heel that was digging into his flesh, he angrily threw her down and, happy to be free and breathing, she then proceeded to gulp in huge amounts of air as her lungs burned in pain.

Jay was there beside her in a flash, kneeling down beside her. "Oh my gosh, Theresa, are you alright?" he exclaimed worriedly. Seeing a weak nod from her, he stood up, anger building up within him like a tidal wave gathering strength and speed. Finally, the huge wave crashed down, sending him to his final snap.

"That's it! You _die_!" Jay screeched, running towards Cronus, his sword aimed at him. Cronus dodged, but Jay took him by surprise - he slid right under his legs and stabbed him from the back into his stomach area again. Though Cronus' wound earlier had completely and miraculously healed already, he still let out a sharp, piercing cry of pain at the newly-created wound as he shouted angrily at Jay.

Pulling the sword out of him and throwing it aside, barely missing Neil by inches, Cronus yelled, "You'll never defeat me, not now, not ever!" He conjured up a portal, and clutching his stomach with a blood-stained hand, he slipped into the portal. Jay unfortunately was miliseconds too late in slipping in there after him.

Just then, Archie, Atlanta, Herry and Odie came running up to Jay breathlessly, and Atlanta bent down beside Theresa's tired form in horror. "What happened to you, Theresa?"

"Where's Cronus?" Archie snarled furiously, taking his whip out and getting prepared to use it.

Jay breathed heavily, then said in frustration, punching the wall, "He escaped - _again_!"

Meanwhile, Odie looked at Neil, slightly aghast to see him crouching all over the floor and looking deadly pale. "What's he doing, cowering in fear?"

Neil looked up anxiously. "Is it over? Oh gosh it's over! I shall just kindly excuse myself...!" Getting to his feet as quickly as he could and tumbling unsteadily, he rushed to the nearest toilet, his face already all drained of colour.

"So, it's not over?" Herry asked, looking at Theresa concernedly, who was getting to her feet unsteadily with the help of Atlanta.

"It's not..." Jay's face darkened considerably as he said with dead seriousness, "It'll be never over until I get Cronus behind those bars for doing what he did to Theresa."

--

Okay, so I actually dragged this out exceptionally long, so I decided that this isn't the second last chapter but the third last! So now the story is going to have one more chapter which is pretty essential and, a warning to you guys, it's pretty sad. But don't worry, the story doesn't end off on a sad note - I think. Hope you enjoyed this! I love Neil and his toilet trouble; oh well, a lucky guy still _has_ to have his bad days, doesn't he? Please REVIEW!


	10. Chapter 10

Okay, so here is the real second last chapter! Okay, actually this is the last chapter of the story, but then there is the Epilogue that should not be forgotten. The story is nearing to an end, and it's almost over. Gosh, I can't help but feel a little sad to finish up this story. It was fun and rewarding to write this, and I'd never tried anything like this before, so it's my first time writing a proper story-fic. It'll be so weird not to rush to the computer and try to churn out another chapter, won't it? Anyway, I promise I won't end here, I'll always write more J/T stories, be rest assured. I'll always remember this fic and smile with fondness.(:

**Chapter 10**

Jay bit his lip solemnly as he stood outside her door, raising his hand to knock. Deciding that he had better not in case she was sleeping, he called out softly, "Theresa? Theresa, you awake?"

He wanted to check to see if she was okay - their battle with Cronus had been tiring and proved dangerous for his girlfriend. Also, he had something important to tell her. He needed to tell her something quickly before he backed out of it...

Hearing no answer, he hesitated and was about to retreat back to his room when the door suddenly swung open and a sleepy-looking Theresa in her normal light pink nightgown rubbed her eyes ruefully. Her sudden appearance almost made him jump in shock; thankfully he didn't or he might have woken up everyone on his floor.

"Hey, Jay, what's up?" Theresa murmured sluggishly, yawning a little.

"Uh, sorry, did I wake you?" Jay whispered back, a little fearful to wake someone else up.

Theresa yawned loudly again, covering her mouth, and she replied, "Well, no, I'm pretty tired but I can't sleep, unfortunately. Insomia, I guess. What is it?"

"Well, I need to talk to you about something," Jay said seriously, biting his lip again. "Can we go up to the roof and talk?"

Theresa nodded wordlessly as the two walked carefully up the roof, hoping that they hadn't woken anyone up yet.

--

No one was on the roof. It was a quiet, dark night, and the pitch black sky was set amidst twinkling, beautiful stars. A warm night breeze caressed their faces, and it was peaceful and tranquil, just like any other romantic occasion.

Theresa wandered over to the pot of flowers for the second time in that week. Squatting down, she looked rather amazed at the rose that they had planted. A few days ago, she had seen it wilting and about to die, but now it was slowly gaining back its life and its energy, as though it was regenerating. It was well on its way to becoming a healthy, beautiful rose again, just like the time when it had once been a ruby red rose which beauty possibly rivalled no other flower.

"Look," she breathed, pointing at the flower, "the rose that we planted - its not dying anymore!"

Jay looked on with a smile on his face, but the slight, worried frown was still stuck on his face. He sat down on the two-seater swing, patting the seat beside him, indicating for her to join him.

Theresa blinked at him, then slid into the seat beside him. "Isn't it a beautiful night?"

Jay nodded, his face almost expressionless save for his eyes that reflected his stony seriousness in them. "Look, Theresa, I need to tell you something -"

He cut himself on as he felt Theresa's warm body sidle up next to him and at the next moment, her soft head rested peacefully on his shoulder as she snuggled up to him comfortably, her orange curls spreading over his chest. He felt so comfortable and as though he really belonged with her, and he almost got distracted from what he wanted to say.

"Theresa..."

Theresa raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"

Knowing she was probably expecting an "I love you" from him, he sighed and gave her what she wanted. "I love you."

He saw her face break into a gentle smile and she said softly, "I love you too, Jay."

Knowing he had to do this, he reluctantly broke away from her. He saw the hurt and confusion in her eyes and she sat, staring stupidly at him. "Theresa, we need to break up," Jay said. Seeing her eyes fall and a sad expression take over her face, he felt guilty and heartbroken too. It was just as hard for him to say something like this, no doubt.

"Whyy...? Why Jay?" Her quiet whisper could barely contain the hurt that was evident in her tone.

"Because... It's for your good. It's for _our_ good. It's for _our team's_ good. Did you see that today? Cronus knew we were dating and that's why he chose to attack _you_ first. He wants to get at me through you, and now because of our relationship you're in danger. He knows you're important to me, and he aims to use that against me. And I can't let us do that. I can't let him use this to his advantage and put the whole team in danger, Theresa. We have to break up." Jay pursed his lips, trying not to meet her eyes, which he knew were full of tears.

"No... No, how can you say that? Jay, I can very well look after myself! So what if Cronus knows that? It doesn't matter, does it? Our love is stronger than what he's trying to do, isn't it? I know you think Cronus is your number one priority, but could you at least put me somewhere near your top ten? I was thinking maybe I could take your second or third place, but I'm so wrong there - Cronus takes number one, number two, number three, and all the way till the bottom! Isn't there any room for anyone other than your unrelenting obsession over Cronus!" As she talked, her voice grew louder and higher-pitched, as well as more upset.

"Theresa, please, don't be like that!" Jay answered desperately, cringing as he saw a tear fall off her cheeks. "It's not that I don't love you. It's for your own sake. He knows you're dear to me, and -"

"And?" Theresa's eyes flamed with anger and hurt. "And so I'm your weakness, and you don't want to have any? Everyone has their weaknesses, Jay, including you. Even _Cronus_ has weaknesses. Can't you just accept your flaws and move on? Or am I just an extra baggage to you that you don't want to carry?"

Her words hit him like a tractor running over him. He didn't know what to say; he was left speechless and sitting there as he listened to Theresa continue.

"Jay, I don't know how you feel about yourself, but you're honestly a good leader. Everyone has their own flaws, but they also have their own strengths, including you. You just have to accept them as part of you and stop blaming yourself all the time. You're carrying the world on your shoulders, and it's time for you to put it down for a while, don't you think? I know it's a heavy duty to bear, and I'm not asking you to completely drop the ideals of defeating Cronus, but then it's time you made time for yourself! The world isn't defenseless, you have us, and we're not helpless little children, are we?" Theresa yelled at him, nearly, and she suddenly stood up, jabbing a finger at a surprised Jay's chest.

"Jay, I really love you. I'd rather... I'd rather I put my life on the line to date you than break up with you! Please don't kill the seed that we've just sown..."

Theresa brushed away her tears with the back of her hand. Seeing Jay's awkward expression and watching him stand up to argue, she cried, turned away from him and rushed away from him.

For nothing she had dreamt of would ever come true, just like her mother had died and left her, her father was too preoccupied in his work to care about her. And now Jay had been seized with the same curse. Crying, she escaped from what she didn't want to hear.

_Jay..._


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

A breeze, soft and wavering, blew silently and calmly. The atmosphere was a deathly quiet, and the lush grass was comforting, peaceful. No sound could be heard, and it rang somewhat peaceful, but of course, with solemness.

For this place was not paradise but a cemetery.

Only two people stood, standing before one of the graves. The gravestones in the cemetery were all neatly lined up, row by row, column by column and evenly spaced out, and there was so many - just so many. Yet these two people had only come for one, to visit one and remember the good old memories - well, the girl at least.

And on that gravestone were the words carved neatly on the top: "Nicole Hall, May she rest in peace."

The young man put his arm around the other's shoulder comfortingly, looking serious and stone-faced as he gazed down at the grave, biting lis lip. The young woman had her head bowed down in sadness, her shoulders slumped as a sad smile spread across her face.

"Theresa... Are you alright?" Jay asked quietly, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah... I'm fine," Theresa replied, looking up to gaze at him with a half-smile. Turning to the gravestone, she said with some brightness, "Hi Mom! I'm here again. It's been a long time since I've came to visit, I'm sorry, I was too hooked up in some tiring business which involves fighting a crazed, demented god and what not... Yeah, anyway, this time at least I've brought my boyfriend along. Mom, this is Jay. Jay, this is Mom."

"Uh... Hi, Mrs Hall," Jay said rather awkwardly, waving a little at the gravestone. Theresa laughed and slipped her hand into his.

"Jay, you don't need to be shy. Not with my mum. But anyway... Thanks for coming. My dad was too busy to make it, as usual, and it's better to go with you than to go alone."

Jay shrugged, beaming a little. "Well, it's no problem."

"Mom, just to let you know a little about Jay - he's a responsible leader, someone who is crazy about a evil guy named Cronus that he keeps obsessing about him. He can sail, he is a straight-A student... Hmm, and his Literature poetry is pretty good (Author's note: see **Eternity**, one of my stories)."

Jay pouted a little. "Hey, what do you mean by obsessing over Cronus? I don't do that - well at least not anymore. I'm not _that_ shallow."

Theresa rolled her eyes. "Well, you almost broke up with me just because Cronus came back! That's ridiculous. Thankfully, you managed to snap out of it, realise that we should fight for our love... I'm not scared of Cronus anyway. I'd... I'd much rather be with you than care about my safety." Her voice softened as she looked up into his deep, brown eyes.

Jay smiled, too, as he gazed steadily into her pretty, green ones. Gently but unexpectedly, he put an arm around her waist, pulling the surprised girl towards him in a tight hug. His eyes still fixed on hers, his free hand rose to cup her chin as he pressed his lips to hers, softly at first, in a gentle, tender kiss. And there they stood silently for a while, sharing a sweet moment and their actual first kiss when Theresa suddenly pulled away, her face red from embarrassment.

"Jay! Not in front of my mum!"

Jay gawked at her for a moment, then shook his head. Sometimes, girls were such weird creatures. But, well, how he loved one of them.

He was about to shoot back a retort when a familiar tune started ringing. Reaching into his back pocket and ignoring Theresa's groan, he took out his PMR and flipped it open deftly. Odie's face immediately came onto the screen, and he looked worried.

"What is it, Odie?" Jay questioned, already knowing what was the answer.

"Cronus. He's stolen Poseidon's staff and he's wreaking havoc by throwing up huge tidal waves all over the world. We've _got_ to get back - before it's too late." was Odie's reply.

Jay nodded, looking over at Theresa's annoyed expression. "Oh what, Cronus again!" she muttered, swinging her arms around furiously. "Would he just _take_ a break already?!"

Jay grimaced a little at Theresa's obvious show of displeasure and looked back his PMR. "Where is it?"

"We're meeting at the school and I'm sending an automated plane over to you right at this instant. Go, hurry get on it and -"

" - come right over. Got it," Jay finished and quickly flipped his PMR shut and tucked it safely into his back pocket once again.

"Come on, Theresa, we can always visit another day," he said, almost afraid she'd lash out at him like she had did the last time they had tried to chill out - at the beach, in the park, on the open roof at the dorm, _everywhere -_ they had been interrupted by calls from the evil Cronus. And he was pretty sure she wasn't going to take it lightly again. Well, seeing how increasingly mad she'd gotten before, this wouldn't be a pretty sight.

To his surprise, she just sighed as though she was resigned to her fate. "Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," she responded. With one last look at her mum's grave and a promise that she - and Jay - would come to visit again, they both left.

The reason why she hadn't really complained and made a huge fuss of the whole thing was because, well, so what if they were interrupted again? She knew: There'd always be another moment, and another, and another, because they'd never grow out of love for the other.

Because this is eternal love they're talking about, after all.

--

The end! Okay, so how was it on the whole? Hope you guys all enjoyed it; this is my first ever long-story fic I've ever written. I know some parts may sound OOC, but I really thank all of you who reviewed, I love you guys! Okay, I feel a bit nostalgic, like I wish this story hasn't ended yet. After all, sentimentality? Anyway, this may be the end of this story, but there's sure to be others that I'm going to write, so don't worry.

Bye, please read and review?


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